According to some of the exhibitors interviewed for VideoAge‘s January NATPE-timed Issue, preparing for a virtual market still takes lots of time, which begged the question: Since it is virtual, why not postpone NATPE Miami Virtual 2021 by one week? For many Latin Americans and Europeans, the Christmas holidays ended with the Epiphany (which fell on January 6 this year), which in effect meant that people in those regions went back to work on Monday January 11, and had just seven days to get ready for the online market.
In addition, Americans watched a historical presidential inauguration on January 20, which kept many participants glued to their screens, but not necessarily for NATPE–related purposes.
VideoAge‘s Water Cooler feature forwarded these concerns to NATPE organizers, but no answers have been received as of yet.
In terms of numbers, NATPE Miami Virtual saw 149 exhibitors, including Sony and NBCUni’s Telemundo. As for the number of attendees, there were 1,897 total participants.
One baffling issue was the fact that the names of attendees were listed by their first names in alphabetical order. Curiously, we at the Water Cooler noticed that names with the letter “J” were the most popular with over 225 first names, while the least popular was the letter “U” with just one name.
There were also a few pleasant surprises. One participant from Miami who could not afford the fee as an exhibitor was surprised to learn that a number of buyers he contacted through the NATPE platform actually responded.
Emilia Nuccio, who hails from New York City, said that she registered as the Hispanic and Latin American rep for FilmRise, and that she only tuned in for a conference that featured Danny Fisher, CEO of FilmRise, which was held on January 21.
Finally, Sarah Hemar, executive director of TV France International, commented, “For our members, it was an opportunity to meet some of the 317 buyers registered this year, whether through the chat on the market platform, the concierge’s appointment assistance, or live by videoconferences. Participants also had the opportunity to catch up on trends that are shaping up the global audiovisual landscape, particularly about the boom in streaming.”
NATPE Miami had two main components: The conference, which ended last Friday, after a four-day run, and the marketplace, which will continue until Friday, January 29, with an 11-day run.
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